>>The growth in the 1970s was far more than in the 1960s despite the increase in license requirements and the economic troubles. About 33,000 more hams in the 1960s, almost 130,000 - four times more! - in the 1970s. Why?<<

It is a puzzle. Of course there is the baby boom (which you have already mentioned). Many statisticians define this group, to which I belong, as anyone born between 1946 and 1964. The oldest members of this group were about 14 years old in 1960 and the youngest were about 16 years old in 1980. The 1950s, '60s and early '70s when many of us were in High School were a time of worry about the "missile gap" and stress on languages and science in schools -- I am British but even outside the U.S. these historical/cultural trends influenced education. So you had a combination of a very fast growing teenage and youth population (they were building and expanding schools like crazy just to keep up with us!) with a stress on science and technology. Plus, the digital age was still over the horizon, so there was no "competing" lure of personal computing/software vs. ham radio. Back then, amateur radio seemed "leading edge" even to the general population, whereas I have heard several non-hams recently question my re-entry into the hobby earlier this year by claiming that the whole thing is "old hat."

But the baby boom data do not explain why, in the United States, the ham population grew a lot more in the 1970s than '60s. The opposite should have happened, because the biggest "baby bulge" came in the years immediately after WWII. About the only (really lame) explanation I can think of is that, in the lingo of the times, ham radio might have been less "groovy" among the politically activist 1960s teenagers than among the recession-hit 1970s cohort.

There was also an "echo boom" in the 1970s to 90s (to which my own children belong) -- the children of the baby boomers. Plus, currently, there is a new boom caused in some part by the U.S.'s very healthy immigration rate, which includes quite a few highly qualified engineers coming to seek high tech opportunities in America and their children. (I am part of the immigrant group although I don't claim any high tech qualifications.) Tech education in schools is difficult to assess comparatively with earlier times, however it is interesting that being "geeky" is no longer necessarily a cause of ridicule and it is also fascinating how so many young and old people nowadays are well versed in the intricacies of high tech, although I daresay few people have any idea how the hardware in their tiny devices actually works!

>>The growth in the 1970s was far more than in the 1960s despite the increase in license requirements and the economic troubles. About 33,000 more hams in the 1960s, almost 130,000 - four times more! - in the 1970s. Why?<<

It is a puzzle.

But the baby boom data do not explain why, in the United States, the ham population grew a lot more in the 1970s than '60s. The opposite should have happened, because the biggest "baby bulge" came in the years immediately after WWII. About the only (really lame) explanation I can think of is that, in the lingo of the times, ham radio might have been less "groovy" among the politically activist 1960s teenagers than among the recession-hit 1970s cohort.

73 de Martin, KB1WSY

In the 1970's United States the CB boom reached it's crescendo about mid-decade. CB operation was ubiquitous, similar to today's cellphone phenomenon, and canonised in popular culture with movies such as "Smokey and the Bandit" and songs by C.W. McCall. Everyone, it seemed, was on CB. With overcrowding came the increase from 23 channels to 40 and those were soon overrun. A lot of bad stuff went down on CB, and many of those truly interested in communications radio had migrated to the Amateur Radio Service by the latter half of the 1970's, creating an increase in number of U.S. licensees by decade's end.

In terms of numbers of ARS licensees by the end of the 1970's, the CB boom and it's resulting implosion helped the Amateur Radio Service. It's a mistake to be a slave to the numbers. Quality is the key.

>>The growth in the 1970s was far more than in the 1960s despite the increase in license requirements and the economic troubles. About 33,000 more hams in the 1960s, almost 130,000 - four times more! - in the 1970s. Why?<<

It is a puzzle. Of course there is the baby boom (which you have already mentioned). Many statisticians define this group, to which I belong, as anyone born between 1946 and 1964. The oldest members of this group were about 14 years old in 1960 and the youngest were about 16 years old in 1980. The 1950s, '60s and early '70s when many of us were in High School were a time of worry about the "missile gap" and stress on languages and science in schools -- I am British but even outside the U.S. these historical/cultural trends influenced education. So you had a combination of a very fast growing teenage and youth population (they were building and expanding schools like crazy just to keep up with us!) with a stress on science and technology. Plus, the digital age was still over the horizon, so there was no "competing" lure of personal computing/software vs. ham radio. Back then, amateur radio seemed "leading edge" even to the general population, whereas I have heard several non-hams recently question my re-entry into the hobby earlier this year by claiming that the whole thing is "old hat."

I don't think amateur radio back then was considered "leading edge" by most folks. In fact, just the opposite, once the Space Age and Computer Age dawned. (See below)

But the baby boom data do not explain why, in the United States, the ham population grew a lot more in the 1970s than '60s. The opposite should have happened, because the biggest "baby bulge" came in the years immediately after WWII. About the only (really lame) explanation I can think of is that, in the lingo of the times, ham radio might have been less "groovy" among the politically activist 1960s teenagers than among the recession-hit 1970s cohort.

IMHO, that's a big part of what happened. The counter-culture of the 1960s thought amateur radio was too "square" to be interesting. Also, while the digital revolution was still years away, teenagers in the 1960s in the USA had lots of other interests to compete with amateur radio - cars, electronic music, etc.

Some other factors:

1) In the USA in the 1960s, cb radio was growing by leaps and bounds, and initially probably distracted many potential hams.

2) One of the most-common ways people learned about amateur radio used to be hearing amateurs using AM 'phone on "shortwave" receivers. But by the 1960s US interest in SWLing was beginning to decline. More important, large numbers of US hams had switched from AM to SSB, which typical SW receivers could not demodulate easily. So that methodof spreading the word decreased.

3) In the mid-1960s there were 6 US license classes.: Novice, Technician, Conditional, General, Advanced, Extra. The Novice was a one-year nonrenewable license and the Technician gave no HF privileges at all. The other four license classes gave full privileges until 1968.

Of the hams who had General, Conditional, Advanced or Extra licenses, about 1 in 4 had a Conditional license. That license had the same tests as a General, but was goven "by mail" rather than by exam at an FCC office. Conditional was only available if a ham lived more than a certain distance from an FCC office or had a serious physical disability.

In 1964-65, FCC changed the rules of the Conditional so that the distance requirement was greatly increased - from 75 miles to 175 miles. They also increased the number of FCC exam points. End result was that after the changes there were very few new Conditionals.

4) From 1957 to the early 1960s, the USSR led in the "space race", making most of the "firsts" in space. But once the USA got going, the gap closed, with more and more impressive manned and unmanned successes in space. Finally the USA "won" the race by sending humans to the moon in 1969. In the USA, all this happened live on TV.

With such rapid progress in space, amateur radio seemed to many to be "old hat" even in the 1960s. How could terrestrial HF DX be "leading edge" when we were watching astronauts on the moon live on TV, or seeing pictures of Mars sent back over tens of millions of miles from unmanned probes?

The main point, however, is to challenge the concept that "incentive licensing hurt amateur radio" The numbers show exactly the opposite!

More important, large numbers of US hams had switched from AM to SSB, which typical SW receivers could not demodulate easily. So that method of spreading the word decreased.

Only if the shortwave receiver was designed for AM only. I had no trouble decoding SSB with my National NC-57, which had a built-in BFO that I could use to add sort of an artificial carrier to the signal.

Of course the average Joe just tuning around the ham bands and encountering a block of SSB signals probably wouldn't know what to make of them even if they had a BFO-equipped receiver.

Interesting perspective on all this, it never occurred to me that ham radio was too square to contemplate (and I was born in 1955), but then as a kid I ate, slept, drank and bathed radio so it never would have occurred to me. I think my parents eventually gave up trying to get me to break out of my monomania, but I'm not sure because I was too busy having QSOs with my friends in the 80 meter novice band to notice.

More important, large numbers of US hams had switched from AM to SSB, which typical SW receivers could not demodulate easily. So that method of spreading the word decreased.

Only if the shortwave receiver was designed for AM only. I had no trouble decoding SSB with my National NC-57, which had a built-in BFO that I could use to add sort of an artificial carrier to the signal.

There were a considerable number of "shortwave" receivers back-then which didn't have BFOs. Some were as simple as an "All-American 5" with a pair of "shortwave" coils and a bandswitch. No BFO, no bandspread, no way to turn off the AVC. These were particularly common in the days before TV.

Of course the average Joe just tuning around the ham bands and encountering a block of SSB signals probably wouldn't know what to make of them even if they had a BFO-equipped receiver.

Which is exactly my point. Ham radio used to get a LOT of recruits from among those "average Joes" who happened upon the ham bands, heard someone on AM, and got interested. The switch to SSB cut off that supply of new hams.

I have read many, many stories of hams who got started in the 1930s-1950s whose introduction was exactly as described above. Often it was an old "shortwave" receiver found in the attic which got them listening outside the BC band.

Interesting perspective on all this, it never occurred to me that ham radio was too square to contemplate (and I was born in 1955), but then as a kid I ate, slept, drank and bathed radio so it never would have occurred to me. I think my parents eventually gave up trying to get me to break out of my monomania, but I'm not sure because I was too busy having QSOs with my friends in the 80 meter novice band to notice.

I'm a year older, and had a similar background. Point is, a lot of folks weren't like us back then. The 1960s were a lot different from the 1950s and before.

In fact, we were probably too young for the full effect of the 1960s to be felt. To have been a "teenager" in the mid-1960s required being born before about 1950.

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